Wrench.



No. 759,813. PATENTED MAY 10, 1904. M. F. HUDSON.

WRENGH.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 28, 1903 N0 MODEL.

0 1 #illlllllig UNIT D STATES Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,813, dated May 10, 1904;.

Application filed December 28, 1903. Serial No. 186,813. (No model.)

To on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILLARD F. Henson, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wrenches, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to that class of monkey-wrenches in which the jaw is held against retraction by means of a plurality of detents which engage a toothed face of the shank of the wrench. It is necessary that such wrenches be so constructed that when the sliding jaw has been moved up against the nut to be turnedit will fit the same tightly.

An object of this invention is to provide a wrench of this'kind having a short compact sliding jaw that has great range of movement to take 1n large and small nuts, that works with great ease and freeness, is not liable to clog, break, or get out of order, and can be ad-justment combined with great strength.

I accomplish this by providing the sliding jaw with a series of spring-pressed differential detents, each of which has a serrated face of considerable length extending along and pressing upon the toothed face of the shank in the nature of a runner or shoe, said long serrated faces of the detents being staggered relative to each other and acting to hold the jaw from rattling, though the teeth of only one of the detents will engage the teeth of the shank at any one time to prevent retraction of the jaw. Whenever the sliding jaw is moved toward the stationary jaw, the teeth on the serrated faces or runners of said dili'erential or staggered detents, respectively, will successively engage the teeth on the shank to prevent retraction and at the same time at least two other detent-faces will act asrunners to help carry the movable jaw free from canting.

I am aware of the improvement in wrenches patented to Felix Hoerens August 29, 1899,

No. 632,051, having two serially-toothed detents working on a spring-pressed adjustable rack and in which the necessaryiineness of adjustment is secured by means of a nut which acts on said rack to slide it along theshank in which it is dovetailed. In my improved wrench a series of serially'toothed detents are employed instead of two, thus at once securing the required fine adjustment and dispensing with the nut, the dovetailed sliding rack, and the spring for moving it.

Another object is to provide simple, superior, and ready means for mounting the series of spring-pressed detents'in the sliding jaw.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and referring to the same, Figure I is a side elevation of a wrench constructed in accordance with my invention, the slidable jaw being shown in section to bring the clutching mechanism into view. Fig. II is an enlarged section on the line II II in Fig. I. Fig. III is a side elevation of the gang of detents removed from their housing in the movable jaw. Fig. IV is a view showing the teeth of a detent engaging the teeth on the shank and illustrates the relative spacing of the teeth ofthe detent and shank, respectively.

The main part of the wrench maybe of the usual construction, comprising a shank 1,-havgig on its ends the stationary jaw 2 and hane 3.

i designates the movable jaw, having a box 5, which forms a housing for the clutching mechanism to be described. Suitable straps 6 and 7 confine the movable jaw on the. shank.

A gang of clutching members comprising a series of detents 8, 9, and 10 are mounted within the box 5 upon a pin 11, which passes through the box and is screwed into one wall of the box, there being bosses 12 inside the box for holding the gang of detents in the center and to strengthen the pin. Each detent has a series of teeth, which are adapted to engage with the teeth 13, which are formed on one face of the shank 1, and in the preferred construction, as will be seen byreference to Fig. IV, the teeth of a detent may be double the pitch of the teeth on the shank, so that there are two teeth in a detent to one tooth of the shank, so that when a detent is in engagement with the shank the respective engaging teeth of the shank will engage alternate teeth of the detent. By this means the teeth on the shank which are exposed are coarse, strong, and free, while the fineness of adjustment is maintained by the fine teeth of the detents, which are housed, and thus protected from be coming clogged. The detents are preferably arranged, as indicated in Figs. II and III, so that the edges of the teeth of the detent 9 are slightly in advance of the edges of the teeth in the detent 8, while the edges of the teeth of the detent 10 are slightly in advance of the edges of the teeth of the detent 9, the teeth being spaced apart a distance equal to onethird of the distance between two teeth of a single detent. By arranging the teeth in this manner and making the pitch or spaces between the teeth of the detents a certain proportion or aliquot part of the spaces between the teeth of the shank they will cooperate therewith, and thus secure coaction between the teeth of some one of the detents and the teeth of the shank with a very slight movement to the rear of the sliding jaw. Each detent has a projecting end or head 14, which extends a short distance through a slot 15 in the box 5 and affords means against which the thumb or finger may be pressed to tilt the detents. Each detent has a flat spring 16 attached to it, preferably by being inserted in a slot in the detent rearwardly of the pivot thereof and extending forwardly across the pivot, as shown in Figs. I and III, and the free ends of the springs 16 bear against a shelf 17 which projects from the movable jaw 1. By this arrangement flat springs of considerable length 'can be installed with suitable detents in the box within a conveniently limited space. The springs 16 tend to force the detents into engagement with the teeth on the shank. They also constantly act together to resiliently hold the sliding jaw true and to prevent it from canting. As shown, each detent is formed with a projecting serrated heel 18 on one side of its pivot and with a socket 19 in such heel to receive a spring 16, which is seated therein and extends thence across the pivot 11 and rests on the internally-arranged shelf 17 at the front end of the chamber 20 of the jaw. Said shelf extends rearwardly from the front wall of the chamber 20 and forms a runway for the ends of the springs parallel with and close to the way in said sliding head in which the shank moves, and it terminates near the front end of the chamber 20, so that each spring 16 thereon may have a large portion of its body free for resilient action, the end of each spring being curved to run freely on said shelf opposite the finger-pieces l t-0f the detents, thus providing against any sharp bending of the springs, which is liable to cause stiff action and breakage. Each detent is recessed or cut away, as at 21, on the opposite side of the pivot, so as to allow free movement of the finger-piece or head 14: toward and from the spring. A recess 22 is provided to chamber the ends of the springs as they play in response to the movements of the detents.

In adjusting the wrench to fit a given object the movable jaw may be pushed toward the stationary jaw, and in so doing the cletents will click over the teeth 13, and the construction and arrangement of the teeth of the detents are such that the movable jaw will be locked or clutched from the backward movement at definite points along the shank, there being six clutching positions for each notch or tooth in the shank 1. For instance, as shown in Fig. I, the detent 8 is the one which performs the clutching function when the movable jaw is in the position shown; but by moving the jaw a slight distance to the left the teeth of the detent 9 will drop into the teeth 13, while a slight further movement will bring the teeth of the detent 10 into engagement with the teeth 13. Thus as there are three locking-points for a space the width of a tooth of a detent and as there are two teeth of a detent to a single tooth of the shank there are six locking-points for the movable jaw for each tooth of the shank. This gives a very close adjustment, and yet permits the teeth of the shank to be made sufiiciently large to secure the requisite resistance to damage which they may sustain, inasmuch as the teeth of the shank are exposed, according to the position of the movable jaw, while the teeth of the detents are permanently protected. When in adjusting the movable jaw it is necessary to retract it from the stationary jaw, the thumb may be pressed against the heads 1a and the detents thereby depressed, so that their teeth are free from the teeth 13 of the shank. The movable jaw may then readily be slid along the shank 1 away from the stationary jaw the requisite distance and again locked to the shank at the point desired by removing the thumb from the heads 14, the detents then all being pressed toward the shank by their respective springs and one or the other of the detents having perfect engagement with the teeth of the shank.

The pivot 11 is preferably located at or near the mid-length of the sliding jawthat is to say, near a line drawn across the jaw through the center of gravity thereofand the serrated heels of the detents are constructed to form fulcrums so near such line that the tension of the springs will hold the jaw in position, with both its straps 6 7 firmly pressed against the smooth face 23.0f the shank, which is opposite the toothed face 13, and avoiding any canting or cramping of the jaw in any position in which the wrench may be held. The pivot 11 is also set closer to the outer wall of III the box 5 than to the toothed face of the shank, so that the forward end of the heel may be brought as near the center of gravity of the head as possible, thus to more easily at all times hold the head in the position shown at all positions of the wrench.

WVhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In practical use of the construction in which the fine-toothed detents work in the coarsetoothed shank the clogging of the teeth of the shank with oil anddirt will not interfere with a proper engagement of the fine teeth of the detents in the teeth of the shank, for the reason that room between such teeth is provided to allow the teeth to crowd the dirt out of the way, so that the fine teeth can fully seat between the coarse teeth. By this arrangement the runner-like serially-toothed detents are allowed to run smoothly and to engage evenly without being canted by accumulations of matter, which are liable to occur near the handle end of the shank and which might otherwise tilt the detent, so as to cause the tooth at the front end of the detent to be the only one to engage, thus giving the workman a false sense of a proper working of the tool, when, in fact, breakage would be imminent on account of the slight hold given by the single end tooth. With the line-toothed detent working on a coarse-toothed shank the fine adjustment can thus be secured with less danger of breakage, for when the detent engages to prevent retraction all of its teeth that are intended to engage at one time will fully engage their appropriate teeth of the shank.

What I claim is 1. A wrench comprising a toothed shank, a sliding jaw on the shank, a series of detents carried by the jaw and cooperatively engaging the toothed portion of the shank and provided with toothed faces staggered relatively to each other, and means for bringing the teeth of said faces into cooperative engagement with the teeth of the shank, the latter being coarser than those on the detents.

2. A wrench comprising a toothed shank, a sliding jaw on the shank, a series of detents carried by the jaw and cooperatively engaging the toothed portion of the shank and provided with toothed faces staggered relatively to each other, and springs for the detents respectively to hold the toothed faces of the detents in engagement with the toothed face of the shank, the teeth of the shank being coarser than those of the detents.

3. A wrench comprising a shank having a series of teeth, a fixed jaw on the shank, a chambered jaw sliding on the shank, a series of spring-pressed differential detents in the chambered jaw, each having at one end a finger-piece, and at the other end a heel provided with a series of teeth and forming a runner extending along the toothed shank, the teeth of the detents being finer than those of the shank but cooperatively engaging therewith.

4. A wrench comprising a shank having a series of coarse teeth, a jaw fixed thereon, a chambered jaw sliding on the shank and provided at one end with a shelf in its chamber, a series of differential detents pivoted in the chamber of the sliding jaw and each provided. on one side of its pivot with a finger-pieceand on the other side of the pivot with a heel having a series of line teeth adapted to cooperate with those of the shank, and also with a socket, and springs seated in such sockets respectively extending across the pivot and resting on the shelf.

5. A wrench comprising a coarse-toothed shank having a fixed head, a chambered jaw sliding on the shank, a series of differential detents pivoted in the sliding jaw, each detent being provided withiine teeth which cooperate with and are adapted to ride on and serially engage the coarser teeth of the shank.

6. A wrench comprising a coarse-toothed shank having a fixed head, a chambered jaw sliding on the shank and having at its front end a runway for springs parallel with and close to the shankway of the sliding head, a series of differential detents, each having a heel provided with a series of line teeth cooperating with and engaging the toothed shank, a pivot carrying said detents and located near the mid-length of the sliding jaw and near the outer wall of the chamber, the heels of said detents terminating near the pivot, and springs fastened to said heels respectively and extending across the pivot and running on said runway at the frontend of the sliding jaw.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, inthe county of Los Angeles and State of California, this 19th day of December, 1903.

MILLARD F. HUDSON.

Witnesses:

Gnonen T. HAoKLnY, JULIA illoawsnnn. 

